From 2003 to 2013, 21 visual effects companies closed or filed for bankruptcy, according to the short documentary Life After Pi. The respected studio Rhythm and Hues declared bankruptcy 11 days before collecting an Academy Award for best visual effects for the 2012 film Life of Pi. When special effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer tried to call attention to the industry’s plight in his acceptance speech, producers cut his microphone off.
Survivors have found ways to adapt. The practical effects company Amalgamated Dynamics (ADI) won an Academy Award in 1992 for its work on the film Death Becomes Her. ... “ADI has gone through really lean times when we’ve turned to other fields—medical modeling, government work (I know that sounds mysterious, but that’s all we can say about it), architectural models,” said Woodruff.
See the full story here: http://qz.com/674547/hollywoods-special-effects-industry-is-cratering-and-an-art-form-is-disappearing-along-with-it/